SC Quashes FIR Against Journalist Patricia Mukhim Over Creating Communal Disharmony

Patricia Mukhim SC Quashes FIR: The Supreme Court on Thursday, 2021, quashes the FIR lodged against the journalist Patricia Mukhim.

The FIR accused her of creating communal disharmony through her Facebook post, ported PTI. The Meghalaya High Court order that refused to quash the FIR lodged against

SC quashes FIR lodged against journalist Patricia Mukhim for allegedly creating communal disharmony through her Facebook post

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 25, 2021

Mukhim filed the plea against the Meghalaya High Court order which refused to quash the FIR against her. A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat allowed the plea.

The bench said "We have allowed the appeal" while producing the statement.

Mukhim had reportedly called out an incident of a "murderous assault" on five boys at a basketball court on 3rd July 2020 in Lawsohtun Village (Dorbar). As reported by The Print, Mukhim’s post said, “This continued attack on non-tribals in Meghalaya whose ancestors have lived here for decades, some having come here since the British period is reprehensible to say the least.”

The village council filed an FIR against Mukhim on 6th July 2020, accusing her of provoking communal tension and instigating conflicts. Mukhim was also booked under Sections 153A of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and other Provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Mukhim's counsel argued before the bench that she had no intentions to create disharmony and conflicts through the post. Senior Advocate Vrinda Grover said that "there was no assuaging of feelings of a community which has been attacked brutally", arguing for Mukhim.

Mukhim's appeal stated that she was facing oppressions for “speaking the truth and seeking enforcement of rule of law against perpetrators of hate crime, in the exercise of her fundamental right as guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution of India.

Journalist Patricia Mukhim

Patricia Mukhim, is a senior journalist and Padma Shri-awardee. Mukhim has a career that spans more than three decades. She began as a journalist in 1987 and in 2008 took over as the editor of The Shillong Times, Meghalaya’s first English language daily. Mukhim, as a writer, has also contributed pieces to several top publications in the country, such as The Telegraph and The Statesman.